Of the more than 30,000 people who have permanently been displaced in Kanbalu Township, Sagaing Region, about 60 percent have been displaced during this year.
According to the person in charge of the Kyunhla Activists Group, the largest number of internally displaced people in Kanbalu Township are from Chat Thin Circle, Pint Thar Circle, and Ko Taung Bo Circle (the Circle is larger than the village tract).
“Those who can’t enter the village because the SAC Army are stationed and those who have been burned down their houses have been displaced permanently,” he said.
About 80 percent of the permanent IDPs are those who have no homes because the SAC Army burned down their houses.
“For food, some of the people who are able to work in farms do it and earn from it. There is appropriate support from the ministries (NUG Ministries). Areas under NUG control also collect taxes from townships nationwide,” said a person helping Kanbalu IDPs.
About 60 percent of the permanent IDPs are children, women, and the elderly, so in addition to food difficulties, they also need rain cover, warm clothes, and women’s monthly wear to live in huts, said a local defense force official.
“It’s impossible to go back home. The subsistence is also not very convenient now that there are more people. The percentage of those who are helping us is also low. It is getting fewer donors. Therefore, it is more difficult for them to sustain themselves in the long term. There are people who work in farms for food. But it can only cover for food a little,” he said.
It is reported that the elderly people who died as permanent IDPs because of their health are about two percent of the total IDP population.
This morning (October 19th), the SAC columns have been marching to the villages in Kanbalu Township, Chat Thin, and Kotaungbo Circles, so the residents are fleeing and it was investigated that there are people who have been arrested.